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Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Why I Love/Hate iPads - Apps for the Kindle

Oh Apple! How I LOVE your wonderful product and the AMAZING array of educational apps; HOWEVER the cost is astronomical! By the time you get a new iPad mini 4 plus protection (because, let's be serious, your child WILL break it at some point!) and a STURDY case you are looking at spending at least $450! Wow! It PAINS me to put something that expensive in the hands of a child; not to mention a child with impulse control issues! Even on the cheap end you are still looking at $250 (used iPad with no protection). We do have iPads at my house but mostly they are limited to ONLY being used while sitting down and completing homeschool work or working on Apple-only educational apps.

Kindle Kids Edition

So what's the solution? My friend, the Kindle! We got the children a Kindle when they were four! Now Kindle has a child's version with a huge rubbery case built in, and you know what else? The Kindle comes with a TWO YEAR replacement warranty through Square Trade for only $100! Nothing else to buy! Just so you know, I have dealt with Square Trade MANY times over the years and I have never had an issue with them. Now, what I don't like about this edition, it seems a bit slower, you have to use Amazon Free Time from what I can tell, and the Kindle functions are limited. For the younger set, from 3 to 6 years old, I think this would be fine; however, for an older child, I would move to another version of the Kindle.

If you are wanting a tablet for an older child (and this is what I got my children) then you want to buy the Kindle Fire 7. To get the up-sized version, 16 GB with no ads, it's $85.00 (this is the non-sale price). Once you add in other things like a case, mini SD card, and the THREE year protection plan for $15.00 so you are looking at a total of around $150. So a used iPad, with no protection, will cost a minimum of $250, or you can buy a loaded Kindle with three years of protection for $150. With three kids, I want to save my $300 and have three years of protection!

Kindle Fire 7

The problem with a Kindle? It is not as fast to cruise the internet as an iPad. It does not look as sleek. The bigger problem? Not as many cool app developers! I really wish someone would get on the Kindle platform and make some truly great educationally based apps. Does that mean there are not any? Heck no, they are just harder to find! So let me give you a list of the apps we have used over the years with the Kindle to help get you started. I hope you find the list helpful! Let me know what games and apps you use that I may have missed!